Aftersun Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Aftersun Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 9, 2023

If one way movie fans have of keeping current with the cultural zeitgeist is being cognizant of each and every film that receives Academy Award nominations, some may have fallen short in two of the major acting categories last year (i.e., the ceremony that aired a few weeks ago as this review is being written). The Best Actress race was fraught with considerable controversy when some voting members seemingly figured out the "ranked choice" algorithm needed to secure a nomination, and managed to wrest one for Andrea Riseborough for her work in To Leslie, a film I suspect wouldn't have been even a passing blip on many filmgoers' radar screens otherwise. There wasn't any similar controversy (that I'm aware of, anyway) regarding the Best Actor nomination for Paul Mescal in Aftersun, which may have made the nomination all the more intriguing, at least for those more prone to paying attention to major studio outings with established marquee stars. Aftersun is a low key drama that, despite its Irish star and Scottish auteur, may exhibit what some refer to as the "stiff upper lip" qualities of the English, as single father Calum (Paul Mescal) attempts to navigate a perhaps treacherous entry into teen territory for his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). That said, if the surface temperature is mostly moderate in the story, the roiling undertow of emotions is never that far from the surface, leading to some rather devastating moments of unbridled sadness.

The film repeatedly uses a conceit which according to writer and director Charlotte Wells' commentary track included on this disc was not part of the original screenplay and/or formulation, and was in fact suggested by another filmmaker after an early screening. This gambit shows old supposed minicam footage of Sophie and Calum from Sophie's childhood, including a goodbye at an airport after what is assumedly the vacation to Turkey the two take which comprises the bulk of the story. Interspersed with both the long narrative flashbacks and snippets of childhood video are equally brief looks at Sophie as an adult (Celia Rowlson-Hall), though Wells is rather discursive and opaque about things in this regard, perhaps leaving it to the viewer to assemble puzzle pieces in retrospect.

There's an oft repeated maxim that one can never truly know one's parents, since children have such a particular perspective about the people who both created and then raised them. That's really the subtextual anchor of Aftersun, as the film depicts what seems to be a fairly pleasant vacation between Calum and Sophie, despite occasional feathers getting ruffled. Having "survived" European trips with not one but two near teen sons many years ago, I will simply say that the situation in Aftersun is almost surprisingly sanguine at times, and the film shows a rather beautifully loving and easily familiar relationship between father and daughter. Any lingering suspicions about what went down between Calum and Sophie's mother, who is still alive and living in Edinburgh, is never really detailed in any meaningful way (as so much in this film tends not to be), though it's clear that there's no real animus and Sophie seems to be rather well adjusted.

Where some emotional instability plays into the story actually comes courtesy of Calum, who is slowly revealed to be suffering from some pretty significant depression, though the sum total of reasons for this situation may not be fully disclosed. There are broad hints dropped that Calum is experiencing some financial difficulties (which makes a trip to Turkey with his daughter a kind of interesting choice), but Wells seems more interested in setting up vignettes that allow her performers to "do their thing", rather than providing a paint by numbers plotline where viewers are spoon fed information to be able to figure everything out.

The "current day" vignettes are almost drug infused, as perhaps is appropriate given the fact that they seem to involve Calum at a rave, whether in "real life" or perhaps in Sophie's imagination. There's more than a hint of melancholy about these interstitial moments, but jumping to conclusions may not be entire warranted, given how opaquely Wells presents her material. The more consistent emotion in the film is the kind of sweet nostalgia one can feel when thinking back on a cherished memory, whether or not that memory actually happened exactly the way it's being remembered. Aftersun is inarguably an actors' piece, and the film benefits from some really lovely and nuanced work from both Mescal and Corio.

Note: In her commentary track, Wells mentions there are differences between the screenplay and the finished film. For those interested, the screenplay has been uploaded in PDF format and is available here.

Aftersun Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Aftersun is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shot on film with Arricam LTs but with some interstitial digital material, and finished at a 2K DI, this is a frequently ravishing looking presentation, though there are some intentional stylistic quirks, like the recurrent quick cutaways to old school shoddy looking videocam footage, material which can then be further "stylized" as in screenshot 4. The main narrative presentation benefits immensely from the gorgeously sunny outdoor location work in Turkey, and the teals of the water and frequent use of almost impossibly well saturated reds in backgrounds provides a lot of tonal ranges. Detail levels are typically excellent throughout, especially since Wells and cinematographer Gregory Oke like to utilize so many close-ups. Even some pretty dimly lit moments (or in the case of the rave material, not really lit at all, save for a strobe effect) can offer surprisingly good detail levels. Grain is very tightly resolved and if I can get on my digital grain soapbox for a moment, offered in a rather light dusting (rather than the way some digital "artisans" tend to almost slather grain on) that adds sufficient texture without overtly calling attention to itself. There are some intentional exceptions to this perceived "minimal grain" rule, though, in terms of some of the video material employed, and in that regard, I highly recommend this interview with DP Gregory Oke where he gets into some kind of fascinating "grain on grain" technique he used for some sequences.

Aftersun Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Aftersun features a fun and often nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The film has a number of interesting source cues underlying several scenes, and there's a memorable karaoke bar vignette that won't be spoiled here, and a lot of the music can offer some pretty robust support to scenes. The glut of outdoor material, especially with so much water around, provides really solid engagement of the side and rear channels for ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Aftersun Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director Commentary with Charlotte Wells

Additionally, this A24 exclusive features a DigiPack that has a sleeve enclosing collectible postcards featuring behind the scenes photography. Everything is housed in a slipbox.

Aftersun Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charlotte Wells might have made her narrative a bit less discursive and/or disjunctive at times, and some may feel as I do that there are any number of questions left unanswered as the story comes to a close, but as an actors' piece, Aftersun could hardly be better. The Turkish locations also offer some gorgeous scenery. Technical merits are solid, and Wells' commentary is engaging. Recommended.